Microsoft Will Appeal UK Decision To Block Activision Blizzard Purchase

I swear this whole acquisition needs a documentary; this s**t is wild!

Very clearly a 'lack of understanding' of Cloud gaming....

I am 'stunned' by the CMA's decision and their complete incompetence in this. This will seriously hurt the UK Gaming market as I expect the deal will go through but the UK Gamers won't get the 'games' they expected on Cloud and potentially even on Nintendo Switch until MS win their Appeal...

I suspect the EU will follow the UK's decision and if that does happen then surely US will block the acquisition as well.

This decision has taken months and months of deliberation and its unlikely it'll be overturned. I think eventually the deal is just going to die. Microsoft may end up battling UK, US and EU in court which will not be worth it. This is probably the start of the end as far as this acquisition is concerned.

Jim Ryan is notoriously tied to UK regulators. Good luck! MS explaining cloud gaming to those boomers is like teaching your grandmother how to use a computer. First nixing emulation, now this. Xbox can’t stop taking Ls

@Chaudy MS has every right to appeal, but like you, I just don't see it changing much now. The only difference I see it making is this merger dying a long and slow death, rather than just taking it out back and putting it down.

At this point, MS should throw in the towel WRT the acquisition and throw tons of money at AKB to block Sony from getting CoD, just like Sony does all the time.

How does having Activision on Game Pass damage competition in cloud gaming? Does Activision have a competing service? Do they have any significant cloud infrastructure? Doesn’t blocking the deal mean GeForce Now and other cloud gaming companies lose out on Activision games? Lol blocking the deal based on exclusives and IPs would’ve made more sense.

Honestly from a purely selfish standpoint, I wish they wouldn't appeal. I want this topic over, another year of this sounds like the worst outcome all round. Its just so boring. I hoped today would be the beginning of the end, not the dawn of a fresh start. Sadface

Just annoying it's going to be dragged out for longer meaning potential games on game pass will take longer ..sigh

Bold responses now, but with the european decision expected soon, youd expect that. If europe block, its all over.

If the deal collapses completely it’s still going to have a big impact on the console space. Sonys relationship with Microsoft and AB themselves won’t be the same going forward, that’s for sure.

Not looking forward to seeing this dragged out even MORE (I was already getting sick of the story and all the speculation, honestly).

My question is how much more money is MS willing to sink into this, especially with a chance they lose again? And after a year and half (I think?) of sandbagging themselves, are they willing to spend another year or more continuing to downplay their successes — and I think let Sony gain a lot of ground — to try and get this deal done?

I guess it's an issue of how much brand damage they're willing to do to themselves over this. They obviously know where that line is more than me. But it seems riskier the longer this goes on. They might be holding on a little longer to see how another review or two goes, but I have to imagine they're reassessing the risk vs. reward.

@Fenbops I think this deal is as good as dead now, it’s delayed for months if not years now. So I expect MS if they grow a pair and stop with the nicety’s, to start paying billions for hard exclusives, COD Game Pass exclusivity for a year, yes please. AB will be very upset with Sony, very.

@S1ayeR74 yeah in a weird way Sony could come off worse if the deal collapses. I’m not sure it’s dead yet, I can see countless legal battles ahead, but it’s definitely not as plain sailing as I’d anticipated. I don’t care either way I don’t like AB or 99% of the games they make but to expect things to be all rosey after this is crazy.

@Chaudy the US has already blocked the acquisition. It’s now going to court.

Sony always gets what it wants. They get this delayed in courts for years through stupid arguments that morons, who know nothing of how videogame markets work buy into. Meanwhile, Microsoft has their money tied up and Sony can continue to dominate the market. It's the Sony way to play dirty, always has been...

@Widey85 Xbox is dead, possibly, an appeal has a low chance of success. If this deal does not go through in the UK they have had it.

The entire business strategy of Xbox under Phil has been to be the nice company, the pleasant one standing for consumer value.
Well they announced their quarter earnings this week I think and Xbox revenue is down year on year for the quarter, but game subscribers are up.
So if they lose the deal then you can be certain a vast swathe of subscribers will cancel.

Cool you think but then they'll get exclusives... well no, again because of their entire strategy being nicey nicey, I don't think Spencer has it in him to play hard ball and buy exclusivity's away from Sony etc, or pay for COD to be Game Pass exclusive for a year or a few months.

They would have to fire Spencer and find someone else with a more vicious streak. The current entire Xbox business plan relies on Game Pass and that relies on games on it. Big games to pull more subscribers in. Because otherwise they are losing money and share holders won't accept that for ever.

And the UK market is huge and considered vitally important, share holders know this.
I expect the EU will follow the UK now anyway.

I doubt anything comes of the appeal. If EU blocks there's no way I see this deal going forward. if they approve, and US is guaranteed to approve after it goes to the courts, then UK stands alone but either way MS's strategy of "look pathetic" to get the deal through continues for most of this generation.

If it eventually goes through it means "please look foward to XB next generation relaunch (again)"

If it doesn't go through it means MS goes back to the nasty 90's, and they're going to become hostile and aggressive. While amusing to watch it's not going to be fun to be a gamer during that time, which is probably defined as the next 10+ years.

The gen started so good until this happened.

The one thing we can count on if it doesn't go through, MS will become ruthless by necessity, and ABK is finished. There's no way the company recovers after that. They'll either circle the train for years or they'll just break up and sell off in chunks. As we sit they're already losing talent because the deal hasn't gone through. Their share value would plummet. ABK and probably CoD with it dies, or becomes an IP bought by someone else. I don't see any way ABK recovers if it fails. Not that most of us will mess them but that will be a monumental collapse.

Then there's the worse fallout on a larger scale. If governments blocking the deal cause an ABK collapse it'll have a reverberating effect, governments will then become too afraid to challenge ANY merger for fear of collapsing giants, and will start rubber stamping bad mergers across the board.

@S1ayeR74 Your argument shows how dumb this ruling is if this kills Xbox in your mind. But "poor Sony" according to these morons at the CMA.

@Fenbops We will have to see how much money it will take from Sony to keep them sweet. But Nintendo has just lost COD potentially.

It's beginning to look like this strategy was the wrong one. Europe has taken an increasingly hardline approach to giant American tech giants, for good reason, over the last few years. So buying exclusivity deals like Sony do could have been the better plan. We could have had deals set in stone by now and games coming to the service.

@Trmn8r It depends on how it goes. But American tech giants have been pushing competition a LOT across various markets in Europe, it was inevitable governments would react. This deal has got caught up in the cross fire I think. Yes Sony is as bad but they aren't even half the size of Microsoft, Alphabet, Apple, Amazon.

We remain fully committed to this acquisition and will appeal

Sure, with about as much success as any attempts of bringing back the Dodo bird😁.. I think it is fair to call this for what it is a dead end. As a Game Pass subscriber I wanted this deal to succeed but, man, Microsoft's inability to read a room its just astonishingly bad, to put it mildly.

It's high time they start with a laser like focus on the studios they own rather than chase unwinnable wars. And the fallout from this might actually cost Phil Spencer his position maybe even Nadela's. We will see...

So we're looking at a year plus of this still. If EU blocks is it officially dead? I do want me some ABK in gamepass but i don't want a year plus of this at the same time

What I really don't understand is how people are happy that MS buying up all the games they can, taking away from people (and even if COD isnt most everything else is) is seen as being good and competitive.
I would have though building some studios and making games is how to be competitive and building quality games at that. Wouldn't that make Xbox owners happier? I can't see anything positive in either Sony or MS owning all the studios other than flaming fans wars.
Having a series x and ps5 and not liking COD anyway this doesn't bother me much but I just can't see why this deal is good for the gaming industry. And MS track record of handling acquisitions isn't the best so shouldnt be advised.
Perhaps the CMA all love COD and we're worried MS would ruin it!?!

@Sol4ris i don't think Nadela is harmed by any of this even Phil. They definitely need more focusing the studios and marketing, I'm seeing some Starfield stuff started today so we'll see how it goes. But I've said it a bunch that Phil sold the dream of gaming to MS but they need someone else to implement it. Not sure he needs to be axed for that to happen but they need more sleepy vs woke folks below to get things moving

@S1ayeR74 This case is about Xbox though, not Microsoft as a whole. And Sony dominates the market.

@Trmn8r And? I know that. I didn't say Microsoft is dead did I? But it could cost Phil and Nadela their jobs. You don't push for 69 billion dollar plus countless other billions on a project that fails and keep your job.

@Sebatrox
They have nothing to lose so, it's a right move

Microsoft has already lost, big . This deal is basically dead and the I'll have to pay ABK around 3 billion dollars, almost as much as Sony paid for Bungie, not to mention what this whole affair cost them so far.

@Widey85 TBH I think the PS2 is my second least favorite PS to the PS4. What made PS2 great was really it's pricing and behemoth library. The total opposite of the "lifestyle brand" for "upscale consumers" that PS seems to have become. A PS monopoly today feels like an audio market where your only options are Bose (PS), a no name tape deck bought on Amazon (Switch), or a bespoke handmade exotic tube amp in a walnut cabinet (PC.) In the corner you have Xbox, which feels like a proper mainstream high quality box but the left channel keeps cutting out.

So what will now happen to all the 10 year COD deals Microsoft has been signing with Ninty, GeForce and the other streaming companies? It must be a bit uncomfortable at Microsoft HQ now.

@NEStalgia

A PS monopoly today feels like an audio market where your only options are Bose (PS)

But is it really a monopoly? Two of the big 3 competition regulators ( oh and old Jim Rayan, forgot about him) seem to disagree with that claim 😉. Dammit, I really wanted Diablo on Gamepass..

@Sol4ris It will blow up in the appeals process. There is no standing in this case.

@S1ayeR74 Phil isn't an attorney. If anything, Microsoft cans their attorneys for failing to land the deal in court.
And those 10 year deals mean nothing if Microsoft doesn't own CoD. What are you talking about HQ being worried about those deals?

The decision to appeal is crazy imo. It's been made clear that (where it counts) worldwide, and against all logic & rationale, that government bodies dont want this deal to complete.
Microsoft would be far wiser, at this point, to pay Activision the penalty fee and get out of the deal.
There are far easier ways to success than a massive acquisition on such a scale that it sends shockwaves in all the wrong directions.
Want a foot in the door for mobile? Aquire just King.
Console/cloud business? Aquire smaller equities - I.O, Remedy, CDPR?
Pump money into exclusivity deals - like Sony does. If it comes down to bidding, xbox should never lose a single title to their rivals platform.

Of course - again, imo - none of that happens with current Xbox/Microsoft leadership. They're tech hippies, they dont want exclusives blah blah blah.
1st party development. Perhaps the most visible of failings at Redmond. Where do you begin?
Well, start by replacing Matt Booty. I'm sure hes a great guy but as leader of Ms gaming studios, hes fumbled that ball completely. I'd like to see somebody of Shawn Layden's ilk come in and shake that area up.
Bethesda. Too much autonomy. Hands off is great, but that hasn't really worked out. The constant delays etc. Woeful ports of superior PS titles is embarrassing & the Redfall debacle is pitiful. They need bringing under direct Xbox control.
Gamepass. This is not rocket science. The roadmap is easy.
1 big AAA game in the service per month minimum (1st party if at all possible). 1st on ALL the big indy titles. In addition I'd be at every publishers door with a bag of cash for those titles that have had underperforming launches - send them the proverbial lifeboat and get them into the service. Every month it seems like theres one big publisher or another complaining about their launch sales. Take advantage of that.

Phil Spencer. Love the guy. Really cares about gamers - all gamers. And that's why sadly he needs to go. I cant stand Jim Ryan, but Playstation thrives beneath his leadership because the man is bloomin ruthless and willing to do whatever it takes. Sometimes that's paying publishers under the table to keep certain games out of Gamepass (resi village & the like). Other times, its crying publicly to the CMA like a big baby, to the extent that hes ridiculed in the press & online. But whos laughing now?
Cue the Jim Ryan laughing meme.
Back to the drawing board please Microsoft. (Yes I'm always available).

No idea what you’re on about in your comment, Phil isn’t an attorney? So what?

As for “ What are you talking about HQ being worried about those deals?”

I have absolutely no clue what you are on about.

@NeutronBomb Very true. Good comment. If they launch a PS5 slim I may be tempted and I hate Ryan. Because I don’t know what Microsoft will do now in the UK?

I don't blame them for 'remaining committed' during the appeals process. You don't spend this long working out a deal and then just abandon it without going through the processes available to you.

Once the acquisition has formally crashed and burned, though, Microsoft seriously needs to re-evaluate its strategy with Xbox, because what they're doing isn't working. Especially not when their primary competitor will use every dirty trick in the book to remain dominant.

Among other things:

• Work out smaller-scale acquisitions that'll slip under the radar.
• Form partnerships with other companies to supplement their published output, like Nintendo does.
• Whip their existing developers into shape instead of allowing them to waste years on weird non-starters like Everwild, even if that means replacing them with more productive talent.
• And, crucially, actually fight for their share of the market like Sony does, even if that means engaging in underhanded deals to achieve that goal. Phil Spencer keeps bringing friendship bracelets to gun fights.

Microsoft has all the money in the world, but if the people leading the Xbox division don't have fire in their bellies, nothing will change.

@Ralizah Mostly agree, though that last point, I really don't want to be forced to accept that the the gaming industry works 100% on underhanded dirty business and can never, ever escape that trap. Modern gaming was basically created by the yakuza in Yamauchi, and almost 40 years later we're still stuck with the business basically being stuck having to play by yakuza rules. If MS is going to try to fight using big money, at leas let's demand they launder their blood money properly to clean up gaming.

I wonder if the CMA concern for cloud gaming was partly due to Google blaming Microsoft buying Bethesda for closing Stadia.

@Neonix Except courts have overturned CMA decisions buddy.

@Neonix I'm not your search engine fella. You do it.

So amazon or Apple or someone else will eventually buy ABK, cause it’s not like they won’t be looking for another buyer when all said and done. Lame decision overall and i hope MS get’s super aggressive with its money now for Xbox. It’s the only play they really have left and yes that includes better marketing.

M$ and AB could just pull out of UK, then they don't need the CMA's approval.

It's a loss of a market, but... they could just license their stuff to a company in the UK on their behalf.

And it would make a statement.